Hunting the Fairy Tale

Chapter 80: Bee Stings and Other Discomforts

Seconds later, his head breaks through the surface, and he is audibly unhappy. Gasping and whooping and generally kicking up a fuss. Laughing, I follow his example, and when I hit the water, dropping down into it, I'm swallowed by a wave of water cold enough to...

"Freeze my nuts off!" Hunter complains when I surface. "Is the water supposed to be this cold?!"

He's right; usually, the water is cool rather than freezing.

"Just keep moving, Boyo, it's not that bad," I suggest and kick away, ready to start me 100 laps.

"Seriously! I thought you were a leprechaun, but now I know you're a friggin' harp seal! Guess you won't be granting any of my wishes, then, since you probably don't even have a pot of gold for me to find either. You're really turning into a huge disappointment for me, McKenna!"

Swimming while laughing is never a good idea, and at this rate, the melter is going to cause me to drown.

"Dry yer arse, ye bleeding gimp!" I yell, trying to out-swim him.

"Dex, I know you think you're making sense," he says, splashing like a madman next to me, completely putting me off me rhythm, "but how the hell am I supposed to dry my arse when I'm in the friggin' swimming pool?!"

Laughing, I stop and lunge at him, shoving him under the water to shut him up.

♫

Molly

I'm making instant hot chocolate and Tanner is creating some kind of rolls with cheesy cocktail sausages and a tomato sauce concoction he whipped together. He looked so ridiculously happy when he discovered some puff pastry in our freezer. I'm not sure how old it is, but it's frozen, so it should still be fine. Seeing the look on his face made me feel a little sad.

Watching his progress, I'm not sad anymore; I'm hungry.

"I think these will be nice and easy for your mother to eat when she gets off work tomorrow morning. They're fine cold too, but she can heat them up for a couple of seconds and have some salad with it."

It is so sweet of him to think about my mum being tired and hungry when she gets off work. It makes me like the guy even more.

"I'm starting to think you have a thing for my mum, Tan," I tease, listening to all his instructions. He is incredibly thoughtful. Who would've guessed it? I turn to hand him his hot chocolate, and my smile drops away when I see his face. He looks as though I've slapped him.

Did I say something wrong?

"I... I like your mom," he mutters, awkwardly brushing his hands down the sides of his t-shirt. "She's always been really kind to me when I ended up in the ER. She's genuinely caring and sincere. She never once stuffed her hand down my pants or asked me to do weird things unless it was a legit part of the treatment of my in... ju... ries..."

I'm blinking at Tanner, not sure about what I just heard. I don't think he is joking, and I don't think he meant to say those things either. He looks horrified, letting his sentence taper off and die. If he could take back his words, he probably would. He turns away from me and pops the baking tray with the sausage rolls into the hot oven.

"Let it bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until they turn golden brown and become puffy," he says and if I'm not mistaken, he is about to leave. He certainly doesn't seem to want to be here with me anymore.

"Hey! Weirdo! Take your hot chocolate!" I exclaim, stepping in his way. "You're not leaving now, are you?"

"Well... I... uhm..." Why is Mr Cocky-Bastard suddenly looking so insecure and uncomfortable?